PM Kim: "Likely to Step Down Around Late June or Early July... Supporting State Affairs from the Party"

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on Monday (June 15) regarding his reason for offering to resign, "My basic duty is to support the president's state affairs and contribute to the success of the administration," adding, "I judged that it has become more necessary and efficient to move that role from the Cabinet to the party."

Prime Minister Kim made the remarks during an appearance on MBC's radio show "Kwon Soon-pyo's News High Kick" on Monday evening.

He explained, "From now on, we need to support the administration by processing legislation more swiftly in the National Assembly. As we head into the mid-term of the presidency, there will also be various political challenges, so it is better for the party to support the government and the president more stably," adding, "I thought now is the time for me to go to the party and play that role."

He projected that he would be able to step down "around late June to early July" without a vacancy in the prime minister's office, following the confirmation hearing and appointment of Prime Minister-nominee Han Seong-sook.

Regarding the background of Han's nomination, he said, "She was one of the people I had in mind when I personally thought about who would make a good successor," adding, "Having worked with her and observed her during Cabinet meetings, she did an exceptionally good job, and I have high expectations for her."

He added, "I feel like I want to see how far her potential goes and how much more her latent capabilities can unfold," and "I believe she has the qualities to deliver the results needed to revive public livelihoods and the economy, and to achieve the AI (artificial intelligence) grand transformation."

Regarding a potential run for the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea in August, Prime Minister Kim did not deny the possibility but held back, saying, "I think it is appropriate to speak about whether to run after I formally return [to the party]."

On recent interpretations that President Lee Jae-myung's message emphasizing "responsibility" to the ruling party was a warning targeted at Representative Jung Cheong-rae's hardline stance, Kim took a cautious stance, saying, "I think it means that everyone in positions of responsibility within the ruling bloc, including myself, should reflect."

Regarding his evaluation of Representative Jung, Kim replied, "He has played many important roles and worked hard," adding, "It is not appropriate for me to personally evaluate him."

However, he added, "Doesn't the government pass its approval rating to the ruling party during the one or two months of an election, and then the ruling party runs the election with it, produces a result, and passes it back to the government? In that sense, since the outcome can hardly be called a victory, I believe an evaluation will be made amid reflection on that part."

His remarks are interpreted as an indirect criticism of the fact that the Democratic Party, led by Representative Jung, failed to achieve satisfactory results in the local elections despite President Lee Jae-myung's high approval ratings.

Regarding future plans for party unity, Kim stressed, "Wasn't the president's approval rating quite high before the election? We ran with that, but it is true that the election results did not meet expectations," adding, "I believe the path forward is to look back on the complete unity of the government and the party, as well as the line of expanding public livelihood pragmatism, and to realign our direction."

Regarding plans to reform the National Election Commission (NEC) following the infringement on citizens' voting rights in the June 3 local elections, he stated, "We cannot abolish [the NEC], nor can we place it under the executive branch," adding, "We must subject it to external monitoring and supervision, but since that is difficult under the current constitutional framework, I personally think we should pursue a one-point constitutional amendment targeting just that specific part."

Looking back on the past year, Kim said, "It felt like working in an emergency room," adding, "It was a year of running here and there for the country's recovery."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.